You Are Beloved And Longed For

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3 - 3 - You Are Beloved And Longed For By: Sandy Haga

4 - 4 - Sandy Haga 2003

5 - 5 - Table of Contents Chapter Page Introduction 7 The Closest Thing to the Heart of God 9 That Ye May Be Able to Comprehend 13 He Hath Made Us Accepted 18 Dearly Beloved and Longed For 25 In the Name of Jesus 33 If I Am Beloved, Then Why the Trials 39 To Whom Can I Go 43 I Am Afraid 48 The Comparison Trap 53 The Danger of Proving Yourself Rights 64 He Loves Me So I Can Do It Anyway 67 Back To Our First Love 72 The Baptism of the Holy Ghost 84 What Is Our Part 90 Closing 95

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7 - 7 - Introduction Do you long to be accepted in God's love, but it seems you can't do all the right things to find that acceptance? Do you long to have gifts and talents and use them for Him, but your imperfections stop you? Do you fear drawing close to God and His people because they might see your faults and reject you? Are you bound from your past, its sin, or your failures? Do these stop you from being able to run to God's arms and draw close to Him? Are you always looking for acceptance from those around you out of a hunger to belong? Are you insecure in who you are and compare yourself to others constantly? Do your insecurities cause you to be critical of others? Are you so afraid of being wrong or afraid of failure? Do you constantly get messed up in bad relationships that draw you away from God because of the void in your life that needs to be filled? If someone rejects you or chastises you do you reject yourself? Do you lash out at others when you have been rejected or chastised? Do you have a weakness to people's opinions of you? Can other people's opinions talk you out of your relationship with God, because they don't believe you have one, you actually feel as if you don t? Is your love for God and your understanding of His love for you so great that it has broken your will and you are submitting

8 - 8 - your way and your flesh to Him? Is your relationship with God real? If the answers to most of these questions are negative, you need to read this book. You have been made accepted in the Beloved. You need to know what that means and walk in that understanding. If you know what it means to be accepted in the Beloved, then you still need to read it to be reminded of the power of God's love in your life and to bask in the glory of that love. If you have not given your heart to Jesus or haven't found that wonderful relationship with Him, you will need to read this book most of all, so that you can find His great love for you. Child of God, we are beloved of Him.

9 - 9 - Chapter 1. The Closest Thing To the Heart of God Matthew 3:17 and many other verses tell us about the closeness of God and His Son, Jesus. "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Luke 20: 13 says, "Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him when they see him." Jesus was very close to the heart of God. He was not born in a little manger on Christmas, but He dwelled in eternity with God from the beginning of time. He is so close to God that He is a part of God. The Bible tells us in John 1:1-2 and 14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." There is a great love between the Father and His Son. John 17:21 tells us in Jesus' Words, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." This is a wonderful love. They exist as one in complete harmony and fellowship with one another. Love is a powerful force when it unites in this way.

10 This kind of love can only come from God. When Jesus hung on the cross, God could not stand to look on our sins that His Son took on Himself to die for and turned away. Matthew 27:46 tells us that Jesus cried out, "...My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?" We can barely comprehend how great and wonderful God's love is for His Son. This book was written to remind you that there is one thing that is closer to the heart of God than His Son, Jesus. That one thing prompted Him to sacrifice His Son on the cross. That greater love is the love He has for you, for us, for all of His children who are born again into His kingdom, who obey and cherish His Word, who love His fellowship and praise, those that will one day be His eternal bride. We look at our failures, our fears, our past, our struggles, our imperfections and weaknesses, and we more often than not fail to see ourselves as we are in the eyes of God. We are His beloved. Why did He send His Son that He loves so dearly to suffer like He did. John 17:22-23 says it so well. "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one... He wanted you to share in that love that He has with His Son. He wanted to adopt you to be an heir to His kingdom. (Romans 8:17: "And if

11 children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together.") He wanted to draw you to Himself and pour out His riches on you (Deuteronomy 7:13-14: "And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee...thou shalt be blessed above all people...") We see our imperfections and pull away because we think He can't love us. Oh, but He does. He wants us to forget our own opinions of who we think we are, and become wrapped up in who He thinks we are. If we would just run to His love and not away from it. Who does He call to Himself? Proverbs 8:17 tells us, "I love them that love me: and those that seek me early shall find me." How long will He love us? Jeremiah 31:3 tells us, "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." We will fail. God knows this better than we do. We will have many imperfections. But when we seek Him with all our heart, and with all our heart desire to serve Him, His love will be there for us. He will call us His Sons (I John 3:1: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God..."). He will call us His beloved. (Romans 9:25: "As He saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my

12 people; and her beloved which was not beloved.") (Psalm 60:5 "That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand..."), (Romans 11:28- "...they are beloved for the Father's sake.") (II Thessalonians 2:13- "But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord..."), ( I John 3:2- "Beloved now are we the sons of God..."). You are Beloved.

13 Chapter 2. That Ye May Be Able To Comprehend Ephesians 3:16-20 tells us, "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." I have italicized part of this passage for emphasis because it is the part I want to concentrate on. Picture this for a moment. There is a very wealthy man who has a son and an adopted son. The adopted son left home at an early age and separated himself away from his father. The man dies. He leaves his unimaginable riches to his son. His son gives all of it to the adopted son. The adopted son receives notice of the passing of his father and is notified that the son has passed the inheritance to him. He can't believe that this has happened. He can only think of all the time that he failed his father and his adopted brother. He can only think of the time that he was separated from them both. He is sure that the notice of his inheritance couldn't be real. He never claimed it and lived as a beggar the remainder of his life.

14 We have an inheritance, children of God. Our older brother inherited a multitude of promises and blessings. We are His adopted brothers. Our elder brother died to be able to give us His inheritance. (Romans 8:17: "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ..."), (Titus 3:7: "That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life."), (Galatians 4:7: "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.") When He died He named us sole heirs, beloved sons of the Father. The Bible is full of the promises we inherit as children of God, but just like the adopted son in the story we refuse to read and believe the will (God's Word) and accept what Jesus died to give us. We never comprehend what the love of Christ is for us, or what riches He has laid in store for us. We never know the power that can work in our lives. We never allow the fullness of God to be formed in us. Romans 11:28 tells us that we are beloved for the Father's sake. God doesn't call us and choose to show His love on us for our sake. He doesn't call us because we are perfect, talented, smart, religious, but He calls us beloved for His sake, because He chooses to love us. He wants to love us. He seeks the world over searching for those that He can pour His Spirit on. He searches for those hungry for

15 His love and seeking His face. II Chronicles 16:9 tells us, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him..." He wants to love you. He wants to show Himself strong in your behalf. You are beloved. You belong. You are a part of the greatest thing anyone on earth can belong to, the love of God and His family. When we know we are a part, it can change our whole nature. We all need to belong. How often have you felt that you didn't belong anywhere, that you were a misfit? How often have you thought you didn't want to belong, because you were afraid to? Or you just weren t good enough? Well beloved, you belong to something and someone you can trust. Romans 9:25 tells us, "...I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved." We were once not a people. We once didn't belong to anybody. Now, praise God, we not only belong, but we are beloved. We live in a world that is full of hurt. Satan specializes in burying scars in our hearts and minds that keep us from being able to love and receive love. Just like Lazarus who was still wrapped in His grave clothes when he came out of the tomb, we are made alive, born new in Christ. But the bondage of a life of sin, the world, and the pain it caused still holds us

16 wrapped up away from the freedom we can find in the love of God. Just like He spoke to Lazarus, Jesus is saying to us, "Come forth". "Come forth out of sin, its bondage that separates you from the love of God. Come forth out of the scars from yesterday. Come forth out of fear and failing to trust that I will be there for you. Come forth out of doubting that I love you. Come forth out of the grave clothes of yesterday. Come forth out of the bondage of feeling that you aren't good enough for my love. Come forth out of the bondage of fearing that I don't accept you as you are. Come forth out of the bondage of thinking that I can't use you for my work. Come forth. Come forth." The truth of God's Word tells us that He has made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6 says, "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." We have not made our own selves to be accepted. He has and will make us accepted by the work that He has done and will do in us. It is done by His grace. We need to submit to His grace and love, be filled by His Spirit, obey His Word and let Him be formed in us. We need to be drowned in His Spirit, baptized in it and filled to over flowing. It is hard for us to submit to His will and His Word so that He can work in our lives. It is hard for us to submit to His Spirit that wants to work in us. But when we come to the

17 realization of the greatness of God's love toward us, that very knowledge will break our self wills so that God can work His perfect will in and through us. The truth of the Word of God says that you have been made accepted in the beloved. The truth of the Word of God says that you are beloved for the Father's sake. The truth of the Word of God says when you have confessed your sin, repented and turned away from it, when you are determined to follow God's Word because you love him with all your heart, then you are beloved of God. Accept God's truth about who you are. Let this truth sink into your mind and spirit and transform how you think of yourself. Let it sink into your heart and transform how you love others around you. Until you love yourself you will never be able to really love those around you. Let this truth set you free. God's Word has the power to set you free. John 8:32 says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." You are beloved. Know it in your heart. It will change your whole life.

18 Chapter 3. He Hath Made Us Accepted Jesus has, and will, make us accepted in Himself. How did He do that and how will He continue? First, He died to give us forgiveness of our sins. He then sent His Word and His Holy Ghost to perfect us and sanctify us daily, to make us pure and whole in Him. Ephesians 1:9-10 tells us, "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in Him." He will gather us to Himself. He will perfect His work in us. We must want Him to, with a whole heart and submit our selves to His working in us. As Christians we get into a rut of trying to be perfect, trying to walk the Christian walk by ourselves because we think that is expected. We can't do it by ourselves. The only way that we can walk in a way that pleases God is to submit every part of our minds, our wills, our heart, everything we have been, are, and will be, whether it's good or bad, and let Him have His will in our lives. What is His will? That He might gather all things in Christ. That He might gather you to Himself and fill you with all His fullness. That is what He has purposed for His own good

19 pleasure. Can He save you sinner? Can He keep you saint? We can't do anything in our own selves. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 tells us, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." We have no good in us. Our best is but filthy rags in the sight of a perfect and holy God. We have to be saved by faith in Him, not faith in our own works or what we can do, but faith in His work that He will do in us. We will have good works when He perfects Himself in us, because that is His will, but our good works won't be what will get us into heaven. It takes time for Him to perfect Himself in us. How long it takes Him to do so will depend on our faith in His ability to do it, our trust in His keeping His Word, our desire for it, our submission to Him, our separating ourselves from sin, and other things that we control. His Holy Ghost will keep us and His love won't let us go. We are His beloved. Rest in that thought. Let go of the fear that drives you. Let go of trying to do it on your own, your own way. Let go of doing what you do because you think you should, that's what everyone expects of you. Let go of clinging to those around you out of fear that you can't make it. Trust Jesus.

20 Trust your beloved to keep you and present you to His Father. (I Peter 1:3-5, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.") Ephesians 2:4-10 and tells us of His keeping power. Read these verses and accept them in your heart. They were written for you, too. He has broken down the walls between Himself and us. He has shed His blood for your forgiveness. He has sent the Holy Ghost for power to overcome. He has given us the keys to death, hell, and the grave (Matthew 16:19, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.") He has healed you (Proverbs 4:21-22, "`Let them (His Words) not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.") He has set you free. (Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to

21 preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.") He has promised to do all these things and He will keep His promise. He has already given you all that you need. We have to accept His love to receive it. We have to accept all these other things to receive them. We have to take Him at His Word and believe that when He says it's done, that means it is done for us, too. God loves you. You are His beloved. Why would He say these things in His Word and make them happen for everyone but you? The devil will work overtime to make it look like this is what is happening. He will bring circumstances into your life to make it seem that the Word of God and His love is not working for you. Press on through these times. Hold on to the truth and watch God's Word work for you. Let Him heal your heart. Let him heal those scars of hurt that have caused you not to be able to open your heart to Him and trust His love. Let Him deliver you from that fear that He will not keep you. Let Him pour out His Word on you, every promise, every blessing, every assurance that it holds. Claim it all for yourself. It is all for you. You say, "But you don't know me, or all the problems in my mind and heart and who I am. You don't know what I've done in my past, how I've failed God." How much right now do you want His love? Enough to run toward Him

22 leaving all of that behind? When the prodigal son put on the robes that His father had for him when he returned home, he had to put off the clothes he wore in the pig sty (Luke 15:22). I'm sure the son didn't save those old clothes so that he could remind himself of all the sin he had done, or the suffering because of it. I imagine His Father threw them away and forgot them. God has thrown away your sin garments and the suffering. Don't hold onto them. Don't wear them under the new robes of righteousness. Give the old clothes to the Father. He will throw them away and remember them no more. (Jeremiah 31:34, "...for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.") Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us, "Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Jesus wants to cleanse you, iron out your spots, wrinkles, and blemishes so that He can present you to Himself. You can't do that yourself. Yes, you have to want it more than anything else in your life. Yes, you have to obey Him because obedience is the key to showing God that you really believe in Him and obedience is the key

23 to unlocking the Word of God and the power of God in your life. Yes, you have to desire it enough not to be double minded about who you are and what side of the fence you are on, because a double minded man need not think that he'll get anything from God. When we make up our minds, set God as number one in our heart and lives, obey Him so that He can work in us, and submit our flesh to His Spirit in us, then we can be perfected in Him. He will one day present us to Himself and to His Father. Romans 8:35-39 tells us, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for they sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Ephesians 1:17-19, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the

24 saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power." Galatians 2:20," I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." He has made us accepted in the beloved. He will keep doing that work until the day we see Him, and we will be like Him. And finally, we have to trust Him to be able to see us through death. That is the last and final trial that we will go through. We have to trust that, true to His Word, we will one day say, Death where is thy sting? I Corinthians 15:54-55&57 says, So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we face that crossing, we will see His face. He will hold us close and take us over. We will come to that place that He has prepared for us. What a welcome homecoming that will be. It will be worth it all. We have nothing to fear.

25 Chapter 4. Dearly Beloved And Longed For Loneliness is a killer in these last days. In a time that the love of many is waxing cold, people are literally dying from loneliness, (Matthew 24:12, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold"). Teenagers (and often adults) do anything to fight against it, so that they can stay in a crowd. They wind up drug addicts, alcoholics, teenage mothers and fathers, just to have a crowd that accepts them. Then they wind up committing suicide because their life is still empty. Adults walk away from families to fill a void of loneliness that they have inside of them. They want to belong to someone, to be special to someone and have them long to be with them. Part of this comes because we are a society that puts too much emphasis on what people think about us if we are alone. We worry about whether or not someone accepts us as we are, and if they don't, we may even stop accepting ourselves. We'll change to find approval. We are not true to our own selves and our standards of what is right or our relationship with God. The church is as bad or worse than the world in these things. We even let those around us condemn us or talk us out of our relationship with God. We let those around us set our standards of right and wrong and what is true

26 instead of letting God's Word be the standard. Everywhere we go we can feel people's hearts crying out just to belong, and when they do, they are still lonely. Why? Because we were created to belong to God. We were created to serve Him and worship Him. We try to serve those around us and this only fails because that's not what we were created to do. Living up to expectations of those around you will only let you down. People aren't perfect. They will fail you. God's load is easy and His burden light. Matthew 11:29-30 tells us, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The yoke of the world will destroy you. The yoke of flesh bound people around you will destroy you, but His yoke will bring rest and peace to your soul. What does He expect from you? He expects you to love Him and He expects you to let Him love you. Isn't that so simple. Isn't that full of joy just to know that you don't have to compete any more. You don't have to struggle to be someone you aren't, just let Him love you as you are. You don't have to feel like you are always running a race, but coming in last. You will always be first in His love if He is first in yours. He knows you better than any one else. He has known you even since before the day you were born. He has been there for you all

27 the way through your life. You belong to Him. Not only do you belong to Him, but you belong to one of the greatest families there are, the family of God. The greatest thing about this family is that they will love you not only like God loves you, but with His love that He has put in their heart to love you with. If they don't, then you will know they really aren't part of His family. (I John 2:5, "But whose keepeth His Word, in Him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him.") You don't have to struggle against the battle of loneliness. Let God deliver you. It is a spirit that can cause you to be defeated as a Christian. One that will separate you not only from God's love, but the love of everyone around you. It will cause you to leave God's love and go toward things that are not right. It will lead you out of the will of God into destruction. Let God deliver you from this bondage. You belong. You are beloved. You are also longed for. Philippians 4:1 tells us, "Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for..." It is hard for us to comprehend the love Jesus has for us, or the love of God. God once spoke to me about His love. "I see their past and their future, whether or not they will serve me. I see their hearts completely without anything hidden. I see when they honor

28 me and when they fail me in a way that is completely honest and without wrong judgment. I understand their hearts' desire in a way no one else can, often not even they themselves, yet my love for them is total and complete. I would move mountains for my people, yet they often cannot see my love. They are blinded by their hurt, by the chains the world wraps around their mind, by their disobedience, by bondage satan puts around them distorting how they see my love. All these things cause them to be separated by my love, but my love does not fade or fail. Trust my love. I will never stop loving you." We can't comprehend the love of God. In our humanness we only love something that is safe to love. I hear so many people say about others, "They did this or that. I don't like them because they did." Human love is so fickle. The divorce rate today is unreal. This is separation between people that have stood and promised a life-long commitment. Often they divorce because they get hurt or because the other one hasn't done what they expected or has done something they didn't like. We are this way with our love. Because we are, we can't even comprehend God's perfect and unconditional love. How can God love me after I've done what I've done, you ask. Knowing about God's love you should ask, how could He not love me. The devil is a master at condemning us so that

29 we can't see God's love, dragging up the last decade of our sin, our faults and failures. Romans 8:1 tells us that "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Our human love is based on what we do, so we think that God's love is too. We need to get an understanding of the love of God so that nothing can shake us away from it. When we get an understanding of the love of God, we can then stand strong in Him and begin to win His favor. We can get wrapped up in His love, let go of our own wills and ways, and His love will give us the strength to overcome. We will be able to go on to find favor with God. For example, Samuel in I Samuel 2:26 found favor with God. David, Moses, and many others in the Bible found favor with God. God was pleased with them. We can find favor with God by the condition of our hearts, how we have submitted to Him, and allowed Him to work in our mind, our hearts, and our lives. We will find favor with Him in being obedient to Him. We have to know that real obedience will cost us. Real obedience will hurt our flesh, but when we fall in love with Jesus and His love is real to us, we will be willing and able to do the things He requires. This flesh-denying obedience will draw us even closer to Him. Our priorities will fall into line because we value His favor and peace with Him

30 more than we do anything else in our lives. All other things will fall into place, and because of the blessing and anointing He will put on our lives due to the favor we have found, even those around us will be blessed. We can only find a true and complete fulfillment in our lives when we find His favor (a real favor, not one that we have invented in our own minds). Don't confuse His favor with His love. You may not have come through in your relationship with God to the place you have found favor. You might just have started on you walk and your relationship with Him, or you might just have come to the place that you have gotten real with your relationship. Getting favor with God is a process. Don't think that you aren't beloved because you have yet to find God's favor, but at the same time don't ever get settled in your relationship with God. I often hear the sound of those who get a corner of God's love and think they have it all. They settle for their sin in a half way relationship with Him and think it doesn't matter because they have God's love. They have not found God's love for real, and they will face judgment if they never do. When we fall in love with Jesus, and the closer we get to Him, the more we will change, and the closer we will want to grow. He has such a powerful personality that when we see Him face to face we will actually become just like Him. When we really see Him

31 in all His glory that will transform us into being like Him. The closer we get to Him the more we will become like Him. What is your heart's desire? Do you long to love Him? Do you want to obey Him? Are you willing? God sees all these things. He will make you accepted if you are willing and will let Him. He longs to bring you to Himself. You are beloved and longed for. Mark 9:41 tells us that He loves you so much that He will even bless those that give you a cup of water. He will even bless those that meet your smallest needs. He loves you, child of God. He longs to be one with you. If you let Him, He will bring you to that place. He can take away the struggle you've had to try to serve Him. He can take away the hurt that makes you afraid to submit to His love. He can reveal Himself to you so that you understand for real the depth of His love for you. He can loose the shackles of condemnation satan has bound you with that keep you from running to His love. He can loose you from those things that keep you from committing your life fully to Him. He can release you from the way of thinking that binds you. How much does God long to be one with you? II Corinthians 11:2 tells us Jesus' own words, "For I am jealous over you with Godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste

32 virgin to Christ." Revelations 19:7 tells us, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." How much does a newly married groom long for His bride that He has become one with because He cherishes her with His whole heart? Jesus didn't speak of us as being His bride because it made a pretty picture out of pretty words. He said it because He longs to be one with us. He can make you accepted. Let Him love you. Release yourself to Him. Let Him test and try you and prove your heart. Lift up your hands, lift up your heart. You are His beloved and you are longed for.

33 Chapter 5. In the Name of Jesus Sometimes, when we look at the time period the Bible was translated into English, we can get an understanding of some of the terms they used in the translation. This happens when we research why the term Lord was used as a title for Jesus. The Bible was translated into English in the Old English time period. During this period, the feudal system existed. This came about when a lord with riches, power, and military might, who had the approval and sanction of the king, lived in a castle, on a manor which was almost like a walled city. All the poor people lived on his property. They were under the control of the lord. They submitted to his control because of his power, but also because this was a dangerous and warlike period. The lord had a walled castle and town for protection. When another lord or king attacked, the people could go to the lord and stay in his castle for protection. There were many that were rich and powerful because they had found the lord's favor. If they were given some task to do, some battle to fight, proxy gave them the lord's power to do what they had to do. They were given the same riches, power, and authority their lord had until they accomplished what they were to do. They had his authority to control the situation, the circumstances, the people; whatever there was

34 that was under the lord's command. They went in his power, in the name of their lord. I have read hundreds of times the phrase in the scriptures concerning praying in the name of Jesus and have prayed that way, but I was only repeating what I heard with no understanding of why we should do that. As we grow in God, we will do this many times, repeating or doing what we feel like we should do without really understanding why we should. That works, but the real power to make it work in our lives comes when we do what we do in His understanding, not ours. God began to show me what it meant, "in the name of Jesus". We know that Jesus is Lord of all. We even ask Him to be Lord, sometimes we mean it and sometimes we don't. Being Lord means having absolute power, control, and authority. More often than not we don't want to submit to Him in our lives to give Him that absolute control. That isn t human nature. I Timothy 6:14-15 tells us, "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in His times He shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords." He has and will have complete control and authority. God Himself gave it to Him and He'll rule until all things are put under His feet. (I Corinthians 15:25, "For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies

35 under His feet.") We will have to let Him be Lord of our lives. We will either have to let our wills be broken and submit to Him and let Him willingly be Lord, or we will be at judgment forced to let Him be Lord. (Philippians 2:10-11, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.") Luke 20: 17 and 18 tells us, "That He beheld them, and said, what is this then that is written, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Jesus is Lord. That is an established fact. What place his Lordship plays in your life will depend on you. If you fall on Him and let His love break your will and cause you to submit to Him, you will be broken. If He falls on you, if His judgment comes into your life, you will be ground. Until we submit to Him and allow Him to break our will, we will not be able to walk in His love and find fulfillment as an obedient child of God. We will never learn what it really means to His beloved. Jesus also has absolute rule over the powers of hell. Satan is in submission to him. He is allowed a certain degree of power to test and try the saints, but He will at the time of the

36 Lord's choosing be bound up and cast into the lake of fire. No Lord has ever had the power that our Lord Jesus has. He controls not only the seen but also the unseen. We know that we are in spiritual warfare. This is a battle between satan and God. We are fought because we are close to God's heart. Because of this, satan wants to destroy us. We have to have the power to overcome. Where do we find that power? In the name of Jesus. What does that mean? It means that we have to become accepted in the beloved. We have to know our place in God. We have to come into favor with the Lord of all, so that we can go out to fight this battle that we fight daily with His power, with His authority with His riches in glory, in His name, in the name of Jesus. When we say, "In the name of Jesus, satan get out of my way, you are bound", we are telling satan he is bound from being able to work in a given situation. We are using the authority that God has given us, and he has to submit to that authority. There are conditions to having the power of the name of Jesus work in your life. You have to accept God's Word and believe it when it tells us we have that authority. James 4:7 tells us, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." For the authority of God to work in your life you have to submit to Him. We have no power or name of our own. The seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19 spoke

37 against satan in their name. The devils answered, Jesus we know, but we don't know your name. They proceeded to wreak havoc against them. You don't have any authority, but when you submit yourself to God and go in the name of Jesus, you will have the victory. This battle we fight is His fight. Go in His name with all the power and authority He has. You will not only be able to march in battle in victory, but you will overcome. Here are other things that we receive in His name. Luke 24:47 tells us, "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name..." John 14:13-14 tells us, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." John 20:31 tells us, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through His name." Romans 10:13 tells us, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." I Corinthians 6:11 tells us, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Go in His name. In our own selves we do not have the power to overcome, but when we go in His name, we have His power, and all that He has. How can we lose? Why do we have these things in His

38 name? Because we are chosen, set aside, made accepted in Him when we submit to Him. We go in His name as His beloved.

39 Chapter 6. If I Am Beloved, Then Why the Trials When we accept our place in being God's beloved, and we submit to Him, we no longer have to be afraid. I John 4:18 tells us, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear..." No matter what the circumstances are, we know that He will deliver us and that whatever we have to go through "we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). We will still have to suffer and go through things. II Corinthians 4:17 tells us, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory". We will have afflictions, but they will work things out in our lives that nothing else could. Many people when suffering or trials come their way think that God doesn't love them any more, they allow the devil to condemn them and they quit. We have to understand that being in a relationship with God, being beloved, does not make our problems, trials, and temptations disappear. It doesn't take away the world around us, or our circumstances, or us and make them all perfect. This world is ruled in part by the prince of the air who is satan, our natural born enemy. He wants to destroy us. He controls the people around us that give into

40 him and let him. We are controlled by whatever we yield our members to. Regretfully, even Christians yield themselves to satan when they fail to overcome their flesh, because their flesh is at enmity with God (Romans 8:7, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God..."). If we fail to submit our flesh to God and allow His Spirit to control our lives, satan will be the one controlling us. Because we have people around us that are controlled by satan, we have problems. Also, this world is not perfect, our circumstances will not always be perfect. If we obey Him, He can direct our path and lead us out. He can give us strength to overcome. He is our constant help and companion. We can take authority over our circumstances and satan in His name. If God allowed us to have a perfect existence with no problems, would that even be wise? We know that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:3-5). If we had no tribulation, then we would lack patience, experience, hope, and we would have no real knowledge of the keeping power of God's love. We would be spoiled, weak in our character, and not able to overcome. Without the battles, we would never know God's ability to win.

41 We may also have trials when God Himself is trying our heart. From the time I was very young I often wondered why God put the two trees in the Garden of Eden. He knew Adam and Eve and what they would do. Why did He tempt them? Why did He purposefully put things there to draw them aside and cause them to fall? Later in life, I asked Him why. He explained by telling me the difference between being tempted and being tried. God says we are tempted when satan comes and draws our weakness in our flesh to sin. James 1:13-14 tells us, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." When I am on a diet certain things don't tempt me because I may not really like them. I don't have a weakness in the flesh for them, but please don't sit a pecan pie in front of me or I may eat the whole thing. We are tempted to sin because of a weakness we may have that we haven't let God fix or have control of in our life. It is these things that will eventually draw us to the side if we don't allow Him to have control of them. That is what it means to be tempted. Being tried is something that God does, not satan with the support of the weakness of our flesh. Read these scriptures that tell about

42 being tried: Job 23:10, II Corinthians 4:17, Revelations 7:14, Psalm 66:10, Isaiah 48:10, Malachi 3:3, I Peter 1:7, I Peter 4:12. God tried Adam and Eve to prove their hearts. He will try you, you can be sure of that, and because He does you will grow. You will learn to overcome. You will be established in Him. Your faith will grow by exercising it. You will learn where your priorities really are. You will be broken, and when you are broken He will be Lord for real in your life. You will be purified, refined, and made like gold. When God chooses you in that furnace of affliction, rejoice. You are on the Master's potter s wheel, beaten until you are made supple, and then shaped into His Master design so that His perfect will can be worked in your life. We then can be perfected in His righteousness, not our own.

43 Chapter 7. To Whom Can I Go Who else do we need to go to but Jesus? Who else can meet our needs: physical, spiritual, or emotional? Who else can we trust to be perfect? So many times people let their relationships with other people stop them from serving God. They get a surface relationship, or a part of a relationship with Him, and eventually become convinced that a relationship with someone else is what they need more. The devil has probably sent that person to destroy them, so that relationship turns sour. They no longer have anyone, and they have lost hope and faith in God and people so that they shut themselves away. Jesus knows rejection more than we'll ever understand. For thousands of years millions and billions have rejected His Word. For thousands of years He has been mocked. He once asked some of His disciples after several of them had walked away, "Will you go also?" (John 6:66 and 67). They replied, "To Whom can we go. No one else has eternal life". (John 6:68). We get upset because we fear rejection from others. We compromise with our beliefs, our morals, and standards because we fear rejection. We fail to reach out to those around us because we're afraid of what they might think or say. We listen to everybody else's advice, because we think we should be like other's around us and do what they do, if

44 we don't we might not be accepted. All the while we turn our back on the One Who has eternal life in His hands. To Whom else can you go? Don't turn away from God's love. Don't forsake your position in being His beloved for the love or approval of those who may be gone tomorrow. Don't forsake His eternal wisdom to be caught up in seeking the opinions of the world. Who else has eternal wisdom and knowledge? Sometimes we face life and death situations and God with His vast knowledge is the last One Whose wisdom we seek. If you need guidance in your life, to Whom else can you go? If you need comfort, to Whom else can you go that can comfort you with perfect love and peace? If you need financial help, to Whom else can you go? God can provide a miracle. If you need companionship in your loneliness, to Whom else can you go? God is the only perfect companion you can find Who will never forsake you for all of eternity. If you need someone or something to fill the voids in your life, to Whom else can you go? Who else can love those voids away, filling them, healing them, delivering you from what has caused them? To Whom else can you go? Let go of the crutches you hold on to. Let go of the people around you that you have allowed to control your life. Let go of the things that have crept in and possessed your life causing you to

45 turn away from Him. Let go of the material things you rely on. When I say let go of them, I don't necessarily mean give them all away. I mean stop letting them be Lord in your life. You could give them all away and still not let go of the bondage they bring. Stop relying on them and hold to the things that are eternal. Let go of everything else but Jesus and let Him make you accepted in the Beloved, wrapped up, tied up, tangled all up in God. When we go to God, here are some of the things that we can find in Him: 1. He gives us strength in temptations. I Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 2. He promises deliverance. II Timothy 4:18, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever." 3. He promises strength. Psalm 28:7, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him."

46 We don't have to fear. Isaiah 41:10, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." 5. He promises help. Isaiah: 50:9, "Behold the Lord God will help me; who is He that shall condemn me?." 6. He promises we don't have to fear man. Hebrews 13:6."So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." 7. He will hold us and keep us. Psalm 18:36, "Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip." 8. Angels keep us. Psalms 34:7, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." 9. He preserves our way. Proverbs 2:8, "He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of His saints." 10. He will be our refuge. Psalm 91:2, "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, and my fortress: my God in Him will I trust."